Jesse:
Caryl and I head to the makektplace near Cape Coast Castle to pick up toilet tissue and detergent to wash our sweaty clothes. The site sounds and smells are overwhelming!

• Girls in robin's-egg blue uniforms heading to school
• men and women opening up their shops
• stray goats and chickens grazing on bits of food in the drain gutters

Blankston explains that the goats and chickens are normally let out for exercise in the afternoon. Owners of strays out in the morning could get in trouble with neighbors that have gardens the animals destroy, according to Blankson. The animals normally return to their owners by night fall.

Although the vibe in the marketplace in cool, I did catch a guy trying to pick my pocket as I paid our cabbie.

There is a building "encroaching" on the Mighty Victory Hotel's property. According to the MVH's owners, Joyce and Richard Deburguh-Mensah, there are a lot of struggles over land ownership and often land is resold "out from under" the original owners. Blankson confirmed this and noted that squatters have rights to "uncontested land" after ten years.


We'll be staying at the Hans Boatell tonight. It's built on an artificial lake stocked with crocodiles (Nile species).